The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes

April 3, 2017
Sherlockians may have a tough time buying into the conceit of Goldberg’s whimsical series launch—that Sherlock Holmes had a brilliant secret daughter, Joanna Blalock (perhaps related to Goldberg’s L.A. forensic pathologist character of the same name), who was a practicing nurse and solved crimes with Dr. Watson’s son, Dr. John Watson Jr. In 1910, seven years after Holmes’s death, Charles Harrelston takes a fatal fall from a London rooftop after playing cards with a gambler, Christopher Moran, to whom he was in debt. The dead man’s sister, Mary, asks the elder Watson to prove her sibling was not a suicide. The name Moran rings a bell with Watson senior, but the otherwise astute doctor takes a long time to make the link to Sebastian Moran, Moriarty’s lieutenant. Charles’s widowed sister-in-law, Joanna, and the younger Watson wind up doing most of the sleuthing. Readers who don’t mind highly irreverent takes on Conan Doyle’s original adventures will be most amused. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group.

Steve West transports listeners to London at the turn of the twentieth century with his animated narration of Leonard Goldberg's homage to Arthur Conan Doyle. It follows the traditional mystery structure of the iconic Holmes tales but takes place after his death and features the offspring of both Holmes and Watson. West's delivery radiates energy and intrigue as he characterizes the smart, strong personality of Joanna Blalock, Holmes's daughter. While West performs the audio authentically, the awkward, stilted nature of Goldberg's dialogue is distracting. Possibly meant to reflect the time period and Conan Doyle's style, it often sounds scripted and melodramatic. Despite this small trouble area, the audiobook is sure to engage mystery fans. J.F. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine